Monday, January 25, 2016

Ages 4-8A how-to handbook offering sage advice from an experienced farm dog begins, “Here’s the first thing you need to know: The rooster wakes the farmer early in the morning. That’s his job. That’s not your job. Don’t wake the farmer. You will really, really want to wake the farmer … If you DO wake the farmer, you can get a biscuit just to go away.” Each lesson proves to be a slight variation on this theme as Ragweed, one of the most entertaining and authentic canine narrator’s ever to speak from the pages of a picture book, lays out who does what on the farm, what not to do as a farm dog, and how doing it anyway will generally result in a biscuit (or three!). Ragweed’s enthusiasm and almost single-minded focus on biscuits is consistent and convincingly doglike, while the occasional variation on the pattern only adds to the humor. (“If the farmer is away, chase the sheep! No biscuit. It’s just worth it.”). Anne Vittur Kennedy’s pairs her terrific narrative with illustrations full of color and movement. Ragweed’s joy in the life he lives is irresistible.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Margarita Engle's picture book Drum
Dream Girl is the winner of the nineteenth annual Charlotte Zolotow
Award for outstanding writing in a picture book.Engle’s striking story tells the story of Millo
Castro Zaldarriaga, who grew up in Cuba in the 1920s at a time when drumming
was considered to be only for men and boys. She dared to drum anyway, “tall
conga drums / small bongo drums / and big, round, silvery / moon-bright
timbales … Her hands seemed to fly / as they rippled / rapped / and pounded /
all the rhythms / of her drum dreams.” Engle’s musical narrative goes on to describes
Millo’s eventual triumph in convincing others that girls could play. Her words
are set against the vibrant tropical colors of illustrator Rafael López’s lush
illustrations.The 2016 Charlotte Zolotow Award Committee named
five honor books:

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bearwritten by Lindsay Mattick

Hoot Owl: Master of Disguisewritten by Sean Taylor

Last Stop on Market Street written by Matt de la
Peña

The New Small Personwritten
by Lauren Child

When Otis Courted Mama Written
by Kathi Appelt

The Zolotow committee also named 10 highly commended titles:

Goodnight,
Good Dog by Mary Lynn Ray

How the Sun Got to Coco’s House by
Bob Graham

Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation by Edwidge Danticat

Maya’s Blanket / La manta de Maya by Monica Brown

Miss Hazeltine’s Home for Shy and Fearful Cats by Alicia Potter

A Poem in Your Pocket by Margaret McNamara

Ragweed’s Farm Dog Handbook by
Anne Vittur Kennedy

Waiting by Kevin Henkes

Water is Water: A Book about the Water Cycle by Miranda Paul

When Sophie’s Feelings Are Really, Really Hurt by Molly Bang

For more about the Charlotte Zolotow Award, administered by the Cooperative Children's Book Center, and the 2016 Zolotow Award books, see the complete press release.